Bahrain fish more localised, says expert

A fisheries expert says the fish in Bahrain waters are distinct from those of other countries bordering the Gulf of Oman and the waters of Shatt Al Arab and Kuwait.

Wajeeha S Al Baharna, who has carried out intensive research into the fish population in the Arabian Gulf waters, has a book out entitled Fishes of Bahrain. The informative work throws light on a wide variety of fish not only in Bahrain waters but in surrounding areas as well.

"According to findings, the fish of Bahrain are more localised due to the vast stretch of shallow water harbouring coral reefs and several islands," says Wajeeha, whose interest in science took her to Kuwait University where she did a bachelor's in biology.

On the circumstances that led to this field, Wajeeha said she had been excited by methods used by a team of scientists from the Food and Agricultural Organisation when they carried out a study of the fish population in the Gulf waters. She was working with the Directorate of Fisheries then.

"I watched the way they dived, gathered and classified different specimens. In fact, I worked with them and was inspired. After they left, I decided to gather information to produce a reference book that would help classify the fish population around the sea of Bahrain," said Wajeeha, who realised how massive the project was only after delving into the details.

Still, she plunged on and gathered information from every possible source including fishermen who were well versed with various types of fish. Nearly three years later, she realised she had gathered the details of every single specimen of fish.

She said many fisherman contributed to the local names of fish. She also had assistance for the scientific names from experts at the Directorate of Fisheries. The end result is that Fishes of Bahrain deals with 84 families and 238 species of fish, and Wajeeha plans to upgrade this work and add more species to the new edition.

According to her findings, the Arabian Gulf has a continuity with the Gulf of Oman and through it to the Indian Ocean. As such, there are fish varieties from the pelagic realm of these sea areas, some of which have made the Arabian Gulf their permanent home.

These include barracuda, Spanish mackerel, Indian mackerel, sardine and species of tuna. Wajeeha says the marine life of the Arabian Gulf is impoverished. She attributes the paucity of species to the extremely high annual range in sea temperature, high salinity and a lack of deep waters.

Wajeeha is currently working on a post graduate degree in business administration besides being involved with social and professional organisations.